New Orleans' homicide needs to be aggressively targeted: An editorial

When Richard Pennington took over the New Orleans Police Department, violence was rampant in the city and so was misbehavior by police officers.

Michael DeMocker, The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Police investigate at the scene of a murder on the corner of Sixth and Danneel Streets Jan. 25.

He took a bold approach to both problems. He booted out 300 officers, beefed up internal investigations and enlisted the help of the FBI to clean up the department. He limited outside assignments for officers and created a new complaint procedure for civilians.

He also made a daring promise to cut the homicide rate in half or resign. He didn't need to resign. The homicide rate went from a high of 421 in 1994 to 162 in 1999.

Superintendent Ronal Serpas took the helm of the Police Department last year under similar circumstances. Internal corruption and the city's homicide rate are again the biggest challenges for the chief. Reforms put in place by Mr. Pennington had been eroded during the Nagin administration, so Superintendent Serpas inherited a mess.

He issued a 65-point plan last summer aimed at remaking the department and promised that any officer who lies will be fired. He pledged a reorganization to focus resources on violent crime and community policing and, after a scandal in the assigning of outside details, he presented a plan for reforming that operation.

But Superintendent Serpas hasn't taken as dramatic a tack as his former boss did on the homicide rate.

In a business plan he delivered to Mayor Mitch Landrieu's chief administrative officer in March, Superintendent Serpas said that he wants to reduce homicides by 5 percent this year. That would mean nine fewer killings.

While that would be a move in the right direction, such a modest goal is disappointing.

Superintendent Serpas argues that these are different times than when Mr. Pennington made his promise to slash homicides. New technology for tracking crimes and a focus on retaliatory killings then allowed the department to get at "low-hanging fruit" and drive down homicides. He also pointed to beefed-up laws on curfew violations and domestic violence during Mr. Pennington's tenure.

Today, he said, violence in New Orleans largely stems from arguments that spin out of control.

But it's difficult to see the distinction between that and retaliatory killings. Both stem from an inability to let go of a grudge and settle disagreements peacefully.

The Landrieu administration is trying to find social programs that will help short-circuit arguments before they reach violent levels. Mayor Landrieu hired former City Councilman James Carter to head that effort as criminal justice commissioner, and he is looking into everything from sports leagues to CeaseFire, a Chicago-based anti-violence program that uses street outreach to calm down people who might seek revenge after a shooting.

Mr. Carter is gathering stats on the location of each homicide and how close victims were to their homes. He is working with city public health and technology offices to plot the playgrounds, child care centers, schools, churches and other resources available to residents.

That is a smart approach, but breaks in the social fabric will take time to mend. The Police Department has to deal with the violence that already exists, and residents need to know that everything possible is being done to reduce homicides.

"I want it to go down to none," Superintendent Serpas said. That's what New Orleanians want to hear.